What is the context?
Paul tells the elders to watch themselves as well as the whole flock. The Holy Spirit has made them overseers, and they are to shepherd the church God has purchased at the cost of Christ’s blood. The people belong to God, not to the leaders who care for them.
The word overseers comes from ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos, eh-PEE-skoh-poss), a person charged with watching over and caring for others. Thayer’s entry identifies its use here for oversight of a Christian church. The same people called elders in verse 17 now receive this description and the task of shepherding.
The danger comes both from outside and from their own number. Paul warns of people who distort the truth to draw disciples after themselves. His own care has included repeated warnings with tears. He now entrusts them to God and the word of His grace, which can build them up and give them an inheritance among His people.
Paul also reminds them that he has not coveted their possessions. His work has supported his own needs and those of companions, showing the duty to help the weak and the blessing of giving. He quotes a saying of Jesus that Acts preserves even though it is not recorded in the four Gospels.
They kneel and pray together, then weep, embrace and accompany him to the ship. Their grief centers on his words that they will not see him again. The warning and instruction are delivered within a relationship of deep affection.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly understand the elders as responsible for caring for the community and guarding its teaching. Traditions differ over how this group relates to later forms of church leadership.
The Catholic Church’s Catechism, paragraphs 1562–1567, describes priests, also called presbyters or elders, as coworkers who share in the bishop’s mission and serve in communion with him and under his authority. In this account, their shared work does not erase the distinction between bishop and priest.
The Reformed Baptist 1689 Confession 26:8–9 names bishops or elders as the same local office, alongside deacons, and expressly cites Acts 20:17 and 28. It describes qualified leaders chosen by the congregation and set apart with prayer. That is the teaching of this confession, not a claim that every Baptist congregation has an identical arrangement.
Across these different accounts of leadership, Christians commonly recognize the duties to guard the teaching, care for people and avoid greed. Paul’s own work is an example of generosity; it does not erase his teaching elsewhere that churches can support those who serve them. The 1689 Confession 26:10, for example, expressly calls for such support.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
1 Peter 5:1–4 gives elders a closely related charge: shepherd willingly, without greed or domination, and live as examples. It identifies Christ as the Chief Shepherd. The wider purpose is care under His authority, with the people’s growth in view, rather than the building of a leader’s personal following.
Paul’s departure does not leave the church without its Lord. He entrusts the elders to God and the word of grace, and the promised inheritance looks beyond this painful farewell. The ministry serves a people whose future rests with God, even as human workers come and go.
What is our position?
Who Shepherds the Church? directly compares Acts 20:17 and 28. The people Paul calls elders are the same people described as overseers and told to shepherd the church. The study understands these as descriptions of shared, qualified care, rather than separate ranks of elder, bishop and pastor. It calls for several capable leaders who teach, correct and serve among the people.